Hi,
I am glad that everyone seems to agree that real competition does not
yet exist in Malta and that there is a general acceptance of the fact
that the old Monopolies make their utmost to retain their control on the
market in direct or an indirect manner.
Keith mentioned that ISPs in Europe are switching to unlimited downloads
etc. Maybe he should read the fine print better. The same ISPs state
that they will manage (reduce) any traffic of a p2P nature or any
traffic which the ISP deems to be extensive and above general user
average consumption.
The NET result is the same, it only sounds better for users who do not
read the fine print and are not technically savvy.
Also, these countries have economies of scales and user bases which are
by far greater than Malta. How on earth can you ever expect an Internet
connection in Malta to be as high performing as one in a larger country
for the same money or less ???? The numbers will never add up which
ever way you look at it.
Furthermore, these countries have had healthy competition on Submarine
Fibre connections etc for at least 15 years. In Malta we do not have it
YET.
All in all, the Quality of Internet access in Malta will always improve
but only fair competition will ensure that it will always improve as
best possible for the best value for money.
Here are some figures for your consideration.
For example, did you know that Video On line has lost around 1.2 Million
Malta liri up till today ?
Did you know that Maltanet / Terranet Lost more than 1.2 Million Malta
liri up till today ?
Did you know that these figures are only those that are easily
obtainable from publicly available sources. These figures could
actually grow considerably upon detailed investigation by the authorities.
Did you know that these companies are able to finance these losses from
revenue they make from their old monopolies ?
Did you know that due to these losses, these companies have not been
paying income tax. Thus when government needs more revenue it is people
like you and I who have to foot the bill.
The argument of switching to an ISP who has bandwidth from vodafone
holds very little water.
The point here is to switch to a non monopoly funded ISP so that this
ISP will have more financial power to negotiate better with anyone who
can offer a more competitive deal for the final benefit of the subscriber.
From whom the infrastructure is bought is not that much relevant over
time if the ISPs are empowered by the subscriber base. The game being
played by Datastream and Melita is precisely this. They do not want the
other ISPs to be in strong negotiating positions.
As to what the MCA and the EU are doing, I know that something is
brewing slowly on the EU front, these things take time however.
Nevertheless, when they come they come with a very big bang.
On a final note, Keith, I am sure that there must have been a
mis-understanding between you and your ISP about the delivery of a
business ADSL. For your info, Business ADSLs are not more expensive
because they perform better, they are more expensive because Datastream
charges more for the same service simply because the telephone line is
registered as a business not residential. In terms of more bandwidth,
any ISP can sell you more bandwidth on any ADSL line but you have to
clearly state your requirements so that the price will be quoted
accordingly.
Regards
Noel Pulis wrote:
Hi all,
I agree with all that you say. The problem in Malta, as I see it, is the
problem of monopoly and shit. I used to work with an ISP too, using Lavander
system which was very good at first.
After a while Datastream had the idea of starting up the new system of
Stream! Oh well, still people went with other ISPs. Then Datastream decided
to merge with Maltanet, thus killing all ISP with the LM9.99.
Although it killed them before with the 2Mbit upgrade. Also Datastream
instructed all the ISP's that modem replacements are to be done no more from
the ISPs but if a client of ex. LinuxNET had a modem fault, LinuxNET has to
send the client to replace the modem at MaltaNET! A competitor who literally
used to ask the client if he was happy with the service and offer MaltaNET
services!
Also at the ISP I used to work offered the client the Activation of line in
3 Weeks max. One time a client was held 5 Weeks to do a line activation and
then when they confirmed that the line is ready and he can connect..... he
couldn’t (there was a fault in the line). Instead of fixing the line there
and then, they simply told me to open a fault report for him. The client
waited 2 more days to begin using his internet. Now, If you go to MaltaNET
and do a new connection, they either give it to you that day or the day
after. BTW, They used to give me hell when there was a problem at a client.
The thing to literally change to Vodafone (all ISPs), is not a bad thing.
The problem is that the ISP would still use Datastream infrastructure to get
internet. Another solution is to change to Cable, or the most expensive
solution for an ISP is to rewire all Malta.
Personally I Disagree with bandwidth limit. I think it should be Unlimited
but the ISP should limit P2P. There is a way to distinguish between Normal
web download(Example ISO's Of Linux, And stuff like that) And the P2P
transfer.
So, iether MCA, and EU regulators are blind or I, am going crazy.
Noel
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Keith Vassallo
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 6:04 PM
To: Malta Linux User Group - general list
Subject: Re: [LINUX.ORG.MT] Re: Internet latency times
Hi Conrad,
I agree that for people who use the Internet lightly, any local ISP will
provide a good enough Internet service. However, when I mentioned "good
ISP" I was referring to the needs of Graham, which I assumed (correctly)
needed to make heavy use of the service. This is the reason why I doubt
a local ISP will provide him, or myself, with a good enough service for
our needs - unless you're ready to pay of course. I have in fact
contacted several ISPs trying to get on a business connection - which
supposedly has better service at a higher price. However, even though
I'm registered as self employed and have a VAT number, nobody will give
me a business connection. Also, regular home users are not able to get a
business connection.
I personally don't download any illegal software what-so-ever. If many
people did the same, then not a fourth of the people who complain about
the Internet would complain. However, I do download a lot of Linux ISOs,
Gentoo updates, program demos etc..., even as part of my work. It is for
this reason that I simply can't work with bandwidth limits.
In the UK, the trend is now to remove limits. Both AOL and Telewest
provide an ADSL service with no limits for £14.99 a month. Of course,
I'm not expecting local ISPs to be able to compete (that's insane!)
however, this trend of offering an unlimited service is now spreading
throught several European countries, including France, Sweden etc...
etc...
You also mention that we should not subscribe to ISPs of local
monopolies. Can you tell me how? Since Datastream is now Maltanet, which
is an ISP, and which is the company selling bandwidth to other ISPs, no
matter what ISP I choose I always end up paying Maltanet/Datastream.
Basically, if everyone switched away from Maltanet, Maltanet would still
be in business. One would have to switch to an ISP which only buys
bandwidth from Vodafone... I don't know of any ISP which does this
myself. I'd be glad to find out.
What might be interesting is that now several local ISPs are
researching, or testing, wireless broadband connection services, with
some ISPs offering up to 6Mbit. We'll have to wait and see.
Keith
On Wed, 2006-01-25 at 09:38 +0100, Conrad Laus wrote:
Hi Keith,
I`ve been working with an ISP for the past six years and I have the
inside version of the facts. Your comment about "good ISP" and "Malta"
being a paradox is not correct. From my experience different people
have different expectations and no isp is able to cater for all the
different tastes and desires. If you think that this only applies for
Malta then you are wrong.
Broadband limits by Volume started in other countries a number of years
before they started in Malta. Telephone support provided by most large
ISPs in other countries is on expensive pay by the minute phone numbers.
In Malta this has not been the case.
Then again, keep in mind that in other countries, Liberalisation and
real competition in the Telecoms sector has started around 10 years ago.
In Malta we have not yet started for all is still controlled directly
or indirectly by the old monopolies.
At the end of the day, it is known that levels of service in any sector
only improve when real competition is promoted. Government has little
interest at the moment in promoting this for he would be damaging his
own company and those of political friends. As users, I think we
should promote this by not subscribing with the ISPs of the old
monopolies.
This way, the non monopoly funded ISPS will grow stronger and be able to
provide better services.
Cheers
Conrad
Keith Vassallo wrote:
Hi Shawn,
IMHO, "good ISP" and "Malta" are quite a paradox. Anyway, I've tried
several ISPs:
Maltanet: Great speeds, but with a 12GB download limit (depends on which
plan you choose)
Waldonet: I was with Waldonet for two months. Phoned for support four
times. Nevery got a reply. Switched to another ISP. (This is just my
experience though, not saying Waldonet have bad support).
Bellnet: They say the speeds are quite good. A friend of mine complains
that he has no idea what limits his bandwidth has, since Bellnet use the
Datastream (ehem, I should say maltanet) lavender service, the last time
I checked. Also, if you want to setup a home server, forget about
bellnet.
Keyworld: No download limits, but you only get decent speeds at night.
I'm supposed to have a 2Mbit connection but download with half-megabit
speeds.
Melitanet, your current ISP: Don't even think about them.
Again, this is only my experience and opinion, your experience may vary.
Keith
On Wed, 2006-01-25 at 06:37 +0100, Shawn Cassar wrote:
Sorry people to jutt in like this. I am new to the list but have been
following linux and it's developments since I was a kid, have 3 comps at
home (including my lappy) running Mandrake only (no dual boot).
I am seeing you talk about isp ping rate, I too am with Melitanet and I
want
to change ASAP cause the service and performance is terrible, plus they
are
charging me Lm21 per month for nothing.
So, in your opinions which are the best 2 isps right now? (One with
download
limits and the Other without).
I have been told to either switch to Bellnet or to Waldonet. Anybody
has
experience about any of these 2 during peak hours?
Thanks alot
Waldonet offers unlimited downloads too. A bit on the expensive side
though..
Keyworld offers unlimited downloads, actually (I dont work at Keyworld
hehe).
On Tue, 2006-01-24 at 04:08 -0800, Graham Petley wrote:
The response time is quite variable. Recent pings give:
$ ping -c 10 kh.google.com (about 1245)
--- kh.l.google.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 received,
0% packet loss, time 9034ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 143.385/188.061/399.220/87.340 ms
$ ping -c 10 kh.google.com (about 12.55)
--- kh.l.google.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 received,
0% packet loss, time 9039ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 80.242/85.977/89.495/2.958 ms
In fact, this morning Google Earth, whch was simply not responding
yesterday
evening, was working fine. I suppose 20:45 in the evening is a peak
time
to
California. I use Melita Cable as my ISP. I would shift if anyone
offered
unlimited downloads, but I don't think anyone does.
My web site is still slow :-(
$ ping -c 10 vlsitechnology.org (about 12.56)
--- vlsitechnology.org ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 received,
0% packet loss, time 9019ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 211.454/215.173/222.490/3.495 ms
- Graham Petley
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